As the U.K. ends its seventh week of lockdown, lawyers continue to combat cabin fever while maintaining productivity. Here, Susan Bright, head of Hogan Lovells' U.K. and Africa offices, discusses the benefit of early morning walks and nature, and definitely not evicting her husband from the study…

Do you prefer phone calls or video calls?

Video calls because they help you connect more with other people. But you can have too much of a good thing! Being on video calls all day is very draining and so I try to mix and match.

Do you get dressed properly every day?

I confess not always. My new habit is an early morning walk in our local woods with my husband and our dog Coco. When commuting to work in recent years, I've got off the train at London Bridge and walked along the south side of the river, across the Millennium Bridge to St Paul's and then along to our offices on Holborn Viaduct. It's my favourite part of the day and I knew I needed to replicate that. Whilst I try to shower and change when I get back from walking the dog, there are days when I am still in my scruffy outdoor gear at dinner time.

What's the first thing you'll do when the lockdown is lifted?

Throw a party!

What's the biggest challenge about working from home?

Separating working and not working. It's easy to fall into the trap of constantly working when the commute is only a few steps to your desk. I'm also finding that it's not easy to separate work life and home life when everything happens in the same place. I am working on it!

What's the best part about working from home?

Having dinner with my husband and son every evening. Love it!

How many times during the day are you interrupted by pets/spouses/children?

Rarely. My husband claims (unfairly) that I have evicted him from our study and replaced him with a lovely vase of flowers. He's had to set up camp in the sitting room. Occasionally I am lucky enough to have a cup of coffee delivered – obviously no issues with that sort of interruption!

What do you miss most about the office?

My colleagues. I haven't found the digital equivalent of popping my head around someone's door or having a quick chat at the coffee machine. I realise now just how much information I receive and impart from interactions like those. I miss that very much.

Describe your home workspace in three words.

Sunny, practical, tidy…

I'm lucky since we have a study and I've been able to set it up properly over the last few weeks. I've got myself a monitor, speakers, camera and microphone and it all works really well. And I benefit from light and sunshine most of the day.

What time do you tend to start your day, take lunch and finish up?

I'm an early bird, always have been. I'm awake around 6am, listen to the news, have a cup of tea, plan my day, all before our walk. I have lunch around 1pm, trying to coincide with our son's lunch break (he's in lower sixth so coping with home schooling). Dinner is around 8pm.

How are you spending your weekends? Is there a Netflix, book or fun activity recommendation you'd share?

My husband and I now cycle together each Sunday, which is good of him since he is much faster. We are spending lots of time in the garden – it's never looked so good! We now have a regular family Zoom call each weekend (our older two are both in lockdown at university). And a major highlight is our Sunday night viewing – currently we're watching Killing Eve; the clothes are to die for…

How productive are you working from home compared with being in the office?

Much more productive – no time lost moving between meeting rooms or commuting. In fact that's a problem. I have found I need to put in breaks, get up and move around since otherwise I could be stuck in my chair in front of my screen for hours on end. I've invested in a couple of weights so I can do some strength exercises (not in front of the camera).

How do you like to stay in touch with your colleagues?

I'm doing weekly email updates to the whole office and have started to include videos since people want to hear a voice. I have regular video calls with my leadership team – we used to meet once a month, now it's once a week. And we had an all office "townhall" video call this week – it's quite something to realise that 900 people have a window into your home. A good tidy up in advance of that one! We have a WhatsApp group for our antitrust team – we share news, photos, jokes and have a weekly competition – worst primary school photo, most dreadful ornament in your house, most interesting view from your desk…

What would be your three top tips for others working from home?

1. Schedule breaks and make a distinction between working and not working. 2. Get some exercise every day. 3. Spend time setting up your work space.

How are you coping with cabin fever?

It can be hard. There are days when I feel great: I'm appreciating the slower pace of life, witnessing spring, the beautiful fresh green leaves on the trees. Other days I feel really flat, for no particular reason. I've found it's important to be honest about that. My older son gave me a diary last Christmas and I am writing in it every day. Each day merges into the next and it would be easy to forget: I want to capture these extraordinary times.

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